and “merciless tyrants and despots.”
The Foreign Secretary in his reply, while mildly deprecating
these expressions, allowed his real sentiments to
appear with a most undiplomatic insouciance There
was an immediate scandal, and the Court flowed over
with rage and vituperation. “I think,”
said the Baron, “the man has been for some time
insane.” Victoria, in an agitated letter,
urged Lord John to assert his authority. But Lord
John perceived that on this matter the Foreign Secretary
had the support of public opinion, and he judged it
wiser to bide his time.
He had not long to wait. The culmination of the
long series of conflicts, threats, and exacerbations
came before the year was out. On December 2,
Louis Napoleon’s coup d’etat took place
in Paris; and on the following day Palmerston, without
consulting anybody, expressed in a conversation with
the French Ambassador his approval of Napoleon’s
act. Two days later, he was instructed by the
Prime Minister, in accordance with a letter from the
Queen, that it was the policy of the English Government
to maintain an attitude of strict neutrality towards
the affairs of France. Nevertheless, in an official
despatch to the British Ambassador in Paris, he repeated
the approval of the coup d’etat which he had
already given verbally to the French Ambassador in
London. This despatch was submitted neither to
the Queen nor to the Prime Minister. Lord John’s
patience, as he himself said, “was drained to
the last drop.” He dismissed Lord Palmerston.
Victoria was in ecstasies; and Albert knew that the
triumph was his even more than Lord John’s.
It was his wish that Lord Granville, a young man whom
he believed to be pliant to his influence, should be
Palmerston’s successor; and Lord Granville was
appointed. Henceforward, it seemed that the Prince
would have his way in foreign affairs. After years
of struggle and mortification, success greeted him
on every hand. In his family, he was an adored
master; in the country, the Great Exhibition had brought
him respect and glory; and now in the secret seats
of power he had gained a new supremacy. He had
wrestled with the terrible Lord Palmerston, the embodiment
of all that was most hostile to him in the spirit
of England, and his redoubtable opponent had been overthrown.
Was England herself at his feet? It might be
so; and yet...
it is said that the sons of England
have a certain tiresome quality: they never know
when they are beaten. It was odd, but Palmerston
was positively still jaunty. Was it possible?
Could he believe, in his blind arrogance, that even
his ignominious dismissal from office was something
that could be brushed aside?
III
Copyrights
Queen Victoria from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.
